Problem Statement
What is ‘footprinting’ in the context of ethical hacking?
Explanation
Footprinting is the first technical stage of ethical hacking where the tester gathers as much information as possible about the target: DNS records, network blocks, open ports, user enumeration, social engineering. :contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3} This step is critical because a thorough information-gathering phase sets up later scanning and exploitation. Interviewers ask this to see if you understand the early phases of penetration testing.
